Karm er-Ras (Areas A, B)

Yardenna Alexandre

29/01/2008

During July and October 1999 two small salvage excavations were conducted at the southeastern edge of Karm er-Ras, located at the western margins of the Kafr Kanna village in the Lower Galilee, near Nazereth (Permit No. A-3086; Area A map ref. NIG 231580/739335; OIG 181580/239335; Area B map ref. NIG 23160/73933; OIG 18160/23933), in the wake of private construction. The excavations, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the landowners B. Safuri (Area A) and M. Safuri (Area B), were directed by Y. Alexandre (surveying and photography), with the assistance of B. Hana (field supervision), E. Belashov and E. Berin (drafting) and H. Tahan (pottery drawing).

The following introduction to the site and excavations applies to all other excavation reports from Karm er-Ras.
Karm er-Ras is a low hill, 226 m above sea level at its top and 211 m at its margins. The extent of the site has not yet been finally determined but it seems to approximate 100 dunams. The hill is nowadays covered with ancient olive trees, some of which were planted in the Mamluk period, giving the site its name ‘the top of the olive grove’. The soil composition is chalky, thin and well-drained and the land around is well-suited for sheep and goat grazing. Water was supplied by the copious spring, located 0.5 km to the southwest of the site, which served the village of Kafr Kanna until modern times. The surplus water from the spring flowed into Wadi Kanna, close to the southern edge of Karm er-Ras. The extensive Bet Rimon and Bet Netofa valleys, whose fertile lands were cultivated by the inhabitants of the region, lay c. 1 km to the north of the site.

These excavations (Areas A, B) are the first two of a series of small-scale excavations that were carried out at the site between 1999 and 2006 (Areas A-W; Fig. 1). The correlation of stratigraphical data from the different excavations permits the presentation of the architectural layers in general rather than local strata, although the processing of data may necessitate changes and fine-tuning of the stratigraphy and additional excavations will undoubtedly provide further valuable data for the interpretation of the evidence.

The strata exposed in the excavations:

Stratum

Archaeological period

Approximate Historical dates

X

Iron IIA

Mid-tenth–mid-ninth century BCE

IX

Iron IIB

Mid-ninth–early eighth (732/722) century BCE

VIII

Iron IIC

722–586 BCE

VII

Persian period

539–332 BCE

VI

Early Hellenistic period

332–198 BCE

V

Middle–Late Hellenistic period

198–63 BCE

IV

Early Roman period

63 BCE–135 CE

III

Middle Roman period

135–250 CE

II

Late Roman period

250–360 CE

I

Byzantine period

Fifth century CE

The majority of excavations were undertaken on the eastern side of the archaeological site where intensive consecutive occupations from the Hellenistic, Early and Middle Roman periods (Strata VI–III) were exposed. A small-scale Byzantine occupation (Stratum I) followed here after a decline or occupation gap at most of the site. Significant remains from early Iron IIA–B periods (Strata X, IX) and the late Persian period (Stratum VII) were uncovered only in two excavations at the top of the hill (Areas G and W). Extremely limited pottery remains from the late Iron Age (Stratum VIII) were exposed in a single excavation (Area M). Notably absent were architectural and artifact remains from the late eighth–fifth centuries BCE (Iron IIC–early Persian period).
It is unfortunate that the small area (25 sq m) of some of the individual excavations prevented the exposure of coherent house, or even room plans and only permitted the establishment of stratigraphy.

Area A A single square, partially excavated down to bedrock, reached a depth of 2.3 m below surface. Architectural remains from the Hellenistic (Strata VI, V), the Early Roman (Stratum IV), Middle Roman (Stratum III) and the Byzantine (Stratum I) periods were uncovered (Fig. 2). A stone wall (W14; height 1.7 m) was built directly on bedrock. A packed earth floor (L105) overlaid with Hellenistic potsherds, ran up to the lowest course of the wall. A small chalk lion figurine was discovered at this level (Fig. 3). Two adjoining stone walls (W13, W15; Fig. 4), preserved 1.3–1.5 m high, abutted W14, reusing the latter to form a room, which had a packed-earth floor (L104) dated by potsherds, including everted neck store jars, to the Early Roman period. A later floor (L103) was found at the level of the top courses of Walls 13–15, indicating that Floor 103 post-dated the room. Middle Roman-period potsherds (Kefar Hananya and Shikhin wares) were found on Floor 103. The latest remains in this square (Stratum I) comprised a floor (L101) of flat flagstones and packed earth, uncovered 0.2 m below surface and some wall stubs (W10, W11) whose stones were mostly robbed. These remains were dated by potsherds, including Late Roman Red Ware, to the Byzantine period (fifth century CE).

Area B

This area, c. 20 m to the east of Area A, was excavated only to a depth of 1.6 m below surface, not reaching bedrock (Fig. 5). Two well-built parallel stone walls (W16, W17), at a distance of 1.1 m between them and preserved 0.6–0.7 m high, were uncovered. Three floors were discerned between the walls and consisted of a packed earth floor (L111), running up to the base of Walls 16 and 17, a plaster floor (L110; 0.10–0.15 m thick), adjoining Walls 16 and 17 at a higher level and another packed earth floor (L107) that abutted W16A—a single course of stones added to W16, which possibly extended above the top of W17. A handful of potsherds were recovered from this square and it seems that W16, W17 and the lowest Floor L111 may be dated to the Early Roman period (Stratum IV), the middle floor (L110), together with the two reused W16 and W17, to the Middle Roman period (Stratum III) and the upper floor (L107), as well as W16a, to the Byzantine period (Stratum I). It is possible that an unexcavated Hellenistic stratum existed above bedrock and below the Early Roman remains.

The small excavation in Areas A and B revealed architectural remains, probably of domestic buildings, datable to the Hellenistic (Strata VI, V), Early and Middle Roman (Strata IV, III) and Byzantine (Stratum I) periods. No evidence for destruction was discerned at the site. The pottery indicates there may have been an occupation gap in the fourth century CE, between the Middle Roman and the Byzantine periods.